AS of last Wednesday we have an established government and one that for the first time since devolution actually resembles a functioning democracy with opposing voices.
The SDLP and the Ulster Unionists made the right call going into opposition.
In the case of the SDLP it was the only realistic option open to them, a disappointing election had shown that a confused political message and the constant internal party battles were turning voters off.
They now have four years under a new younger leadership and with some fresh talent in the shape of Claire Hanna and Nichola Mallon during which they need to transform the party's image and fortunes.
In 2001 when the SDLP signed up to the Patten police reforms six years ahead of Sinn Féin Mitchel McLaughlin accused John Hume of settling for 'half a loaf'.
Fifteen years on, for the SDLP to stay in an assembly where they were being offered little more than half a slice of bread would have been political suicide.
Whether Colum Eastwood can save the party remains to be seen, but from the opposition benches they at least have a fighting chance to make the SDLP relevant again.
With both the SDLP and UUP in opposition and Alliance being ruled out of the running for justice minister with a dismissive wave of the hand from the big two, as expected the attention during last week's ministerial appointment process was on David Ford's old job.
And rightly so for the political dispute over who holds the justice portfolio is a magnified look at the problems that still face a post-peace process coalition.
A coalition that involves two main players who hold drastically different views on both social issues and the constitutional question.
And while a united Ireland is now rarely mentioned, social issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion were - as we were told time and time again - the issues most asked about on the doorsteps.
They're issues that got the Green Party's Claire Bailey elected against all odds in south Belfast but they are also at the other end of the scale issues that kept the DUP as the largest party in Northern Ireland as a result of their hardline stance.
Sinn Féin support same-sex marriage and have a softer stance on abortion in cases of rape or fatal foetal abnormality, yet both they and the DUP refused the Alliance call for a change to the petition of concern that has been used to block movement on these very issues.
The hysteria surrounding the post was a step back in time with the DUP saying Sinn Féin could not be trusted with prisoners but they can be trusted with sick patients. Go figure.
It showed that while unionists are more than happy to share power when it comes to law and order they still treat Sinn Féin in a manner Paisley would have been proud of.
Claire Sugden is a well liked and successful independent MLA. She was re-elected without a party machine behind her which as John McCallister discovered is no easy task.
But her independence was her greatest strength and she has now found herself a bit player in a two party coalition without the advice, support and backup some of the other first time ministers have.
I don't envy her. Making good calls on courts, prisons, legal aid and policing with an ever dwindling budget to fund all of the above is critical to a far from normalised Northern Ireland.
We are into the marching season when the justice budget for security policing will once again come under scrutiny.
If Ms Sugden makes decisions that suit the agenda of the two parties who appointed her she can expect to be praised to the rafters. If she tries to go rogue and make decisions they disagree with, well I wouldn't like to be her.
The post election love in and executive photo call has been much criticised for all its stylised gloss. The Sinn Féin team, almost all apart from Michelle O'Neill new and almost all apart from Martin McGuinness untainted by the past, makes the DUP love in much easier for hardline unionists to stomach.
Sinn Féin have without a doubt taken the most hits to keep the show on the road and they'll need to convince their supporters that they're not just members of Arlene's staff over the next administration or risk losing more ground to People Before Profit.
After five years of disastrous government a new found cross party friendship is no bad thing.
But now the photo opportunities are over Arlene and Martin need to deliver. If not, with the packed opposition benches baying for blood, the love in may not even last until the end of the honeymoon.
